The purpose of this research is to contribute to the understanding of processes of social and economic achievement in American society. In 1975 we interviewed a random sample of more than 9,000 35 year old men and women who were first studied in 1957, when they were seniors in Wisconsin high schools, and who were successfully followed up in 1964. Our analysis is guided by a basic model of the influence of socioeconomic origins on post-high school educational attainment, occupational achievement, and earnings which interpret that influence using intervening social-psychological variables: measured academic ability, grades in school, the expectations of significant others, and educational and occupational aspirations. The major facet of our work will be the application of this model to the recent achievements of our sample---especially their occupations and earnings. Also, we shall elaborate and expand our basic model by measuring and interpreting the effects of additional social background variables, social-psychological factors, and such career contingencies as military service, marriage, divorce, family formation, and migration. Special attention will be given to the influence of family formation and dissolution, childbearing, and labor force experience on the socioeconomic careers of women.